CVE-2023-21904 in Banking Virtual Account Management
Summary
by MITRE • 04/18/2023
Vulnerability in the Oracle Banking Virtual Account Management product of Oracle Financial Services Applications (component: OBVAM Trn Journal Domain). Supported versions that are affected are 14.5, 14.6 and 14.7. Difficult to exploit vulnerability allows high privileged attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise Oracle Banking Virtual Account Management. Successful attacks require human interaction from a person other than the attacker. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized access to critical data or complete access to all Oracle Banking Virtual Account Management accessible data as well as unauthorized update, insert or delete access to some of Oracle Banking Virtual Account Management accessible data and unauthorized ability to cause a partial denial of service (partial DOS) of Oracle Banking Virtual Account Management. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 5.3 (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:L).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/11/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-21904 resides within Oracle Banking Virtual Account Management, specifically within the OBVAM Trn Journal Domain component of Oracle Financial Services Applications. This flaw affects versions 14.5, 14.6, and 14.7, representing a significant security concern for financial institutions utilizing this banking solution. The vulnerability classification as difficult to exploit indicates that while the attack vector is not trivial, it remains a serious threat given the potential impact on financial data integrity and availability.
The technical nature of this vulnerability involves a privilege escalation scenario where a high-privileged attacker can leverage network access through HTTP protocols to compromise the target system. This represents a sophisticated attack pathway that requires the attacker to possess elevated privileges initially, followed by successful exploitation of the specific vulnerability within the transaction journal domain. The requirement for human interaction from a person other than the attacker suggests that the exploitation may involve social engineering elements or require specific user actions that facilitate the attack execution, making it particularly challenging to defend against through automated means alone.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends across multiple security dimensions including confidentiality, integrity, and availability as indicated by the CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.3. Successful exploitation can lead to unauthorized access to critical financial data, potentially exposing sensitive customer information and transaction records. The vulnerability also enables unauthorized modification capabilities, allowing attackers to insert, update, or delete data within the system, which could result in financial fraud or manipulation of banking records. Additionally, the partial denial of service aspect poses risks to system availability, potentially disrupting banking operations and customer service availability.
The CVSS vector (AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:L) provides specific insight into the vulnerability characteristics, with network access required (AV:N), high attack complexity (AC:H), high privileges needed (PR:H), and user interaction required (UI:R). This configuration indicates that while the attack requires significant effort and specific conditions, it represents a substantial risk to financial institutions. The vulnerability affects the entire Oracle Banking Virtual Account Management system, making it a critical concern for organizations that depend on this platform for their virtual account operations and financial transaction processing.
Organizations should implement comprehensive mitigation strategies including immediate patching of affected systems, network segmentation to limit access to the vulnerable components, and enhanced monitoring of HTTP traffic for suspicious activities. The vulnerability's impact on data integrity and confidentiality aligns with CWE-284 (Improper Access Control) and CWE-311 (Missing Encryption of Sensitive Data) categories, while the denial of service aspect relates to CWE-400 (Uncontrolled Resource Consumption). Security teams should also consider implementing the ATT&CK framework's techniques related to privilege escalation and credential access to better understand and defend against potential exploitation patterns. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify similar weaknesses in the broader financial services infrastructure that might provide alternative attack vectors.